Matthew 9:9-17 9. And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, And followed him. 10. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. 11. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 12. But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 14. Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? 15. And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. 16. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. 17. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

Verse 9 - And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, And followed him.

[A] Jesus saw a man named Matthew [1] There is no absolute proof, but most agree that this Matthew was he who became one of the twelve disciples [2] It is also believed that this Matthew is he who wrote the book of Matthew, from which we are studying this evening.

[B] Mathew was sitting at the receipt of custom [1] A custom was a tribute or in other words a tax [2] Matthew was a tax collector – and was t his table collecting taxed that day when Jesus came upon him.

[C] Jesus said unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. [1] In the book of Luke, we find it said that he left all and followed Jesus [2] One has to wonder what it was that caused him to leave everything behind and start following Jesus [3] Matthew, also known as Levi was a Publican, a tax collector, likely a very rich man with power and prestige – yet he would have been disliked by the Jewish people. [4] Questions [a] What would inspire a man to leave it all behind in order to follow Jesus [b] What is it about Jesus that would inspire a man to do this [c] Jesus did not explain what he want Matthew to follow him for, he only said follow me, and Matthew did – what would caused this to happen? [d] Is the call Jesus made to Matthew any different than the call he makes to man today? [e] What does it mean to follow Jesus?

Verse 10 - And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

[A] Another factor we find in Luke that is not recorded by Matthew, probably because he did not want to brag, was that it was he who held a feast to honor Jesus

[B] And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house [1] The house where he was eating was the house of Matthew

[C] Many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. [1] Matthew who was a sinner, one who would have been considered an outcast because of his work for the Roman Government threw a feast [2] Others of his friends and acquaintances came to dine as well – they also were considered sinners in the eyes of the Jews.

[D] So we find Jesus and his disciples sitting at a table with a mixed group of people, many of whom are considered sinners – among them are the Publicans (tax collectors,) and possibly other men who the Jews did not consider themselves low enough to sit with [1] For a Jew to have sat to eat with a sinner would have defiled them [2] The Jew would taken the time to walk a great distance just so they would not have had to be close to a known sinner. [3] What Jesus was doing went against everything the Jews believed and practiced

Verse 11 - And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

[A] Again we find those ever present Pharisees who were out to get Jesus any way they could [1] Apparently they must have followed him, trying to find fault [b] It seems that everywhere he went they were always there

[B] They said unto his disciples, [1] I find it interesting that the Pharisees did not approach Jesus, but instead went to the disciples to voice their complaint [2] This is very much like today [a] Instead of going to person, and finding out why he said or did what he did, the rumor meal starts up and, the gossip mongers begin making phone calls. Before long everyone is talking and whatever the original complaint was had been blown out of proportion.

[C] Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? [1] What this question implied is that Jesus, by eating what the Publicans and sinners was no better than they [2] They implied that by association, Jesus was as big a sinner as the Publican and sinners were. [3] Question [a] What is your first thought when you see on of your Christian brothers or sisters associating with people who are sinners? [b] What is your first thought if you see one of them entering a beer joint? [c] What would be your thoughts if you seen them eating with the sinners and having a good time with them

Verse 12 - But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

[A] But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them [1] Apparently Jesus overheard what they said [2] This was probably a good thing because he was able to squash the rumors before they caused his disciples to become affected [3] What happens when a rumor continues on and on?

[B] They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. [1] The whole needed not a physician. [a] Only a sick person needed his aid. [b] A physician would not commonly be found with those that were in health. His proper place was among the sick. [2] So, says he, "If you Pharisees are such as you think yourselves to be, already pure and holy, you do not need my aid. It would be of no use to you, and you would not thank me for it. [3] With those persons are sinners I may be useful; and there is my proper place. [a] I came on purpose to save sinners. [b] My business is with them. [c] There are none righteous; and as a physician is in his proper place with the sick, so am I with guilty, miserable sinners."

Verse 13 - But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

[A] But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice [1] To reprove them, and to vindicate his own conduct, he appealed to a passage of Scripture with which they ought to have been acquainted: "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice," Ho 6:6. [2] What did Jesus mean by this? [a] Mercy is an act of Grace – by which we are saved [b] Sacrifice is an act of works – by which we cannot be saved

[B] I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. [1] No human being is by nature righteous, although the Pharisees pretended to be righteous. [2] Christ might have meant, by this answer, that it was not the design of his coming to call such persons to repentance, knowing that they would spurn his efforts, and that, to a great extent, they would be vain; [3] More probably, he meant to affirm that his proper and only business was to call to repentance such men as he was now with. He came to seek and save such, and it was his proper business, therefore, to associate with them.

Verse 14 - Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?

[A] Then came to him the disciples of John [1] The disciples of John were those who followed the teaching of John the Baptist [2] They would have been aware that John was the forerunner of the Messiah and Jesus was considered to be the Messiah

[B] Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? [1] They noticed that they and the Pharisees often fasted yet the disciples of Jesus did not [2] John, although a great man of God and a prophet, did not change costumes [a] Fasting was something that was done often by the Jews, [b] The Pharisees fasted twice a week as well as on the regular fast days [c] When John was in prison, his disciples probably fasted and prayed for him, hoping that he would be released [3] The disciples of Jesus did not fast – nor did Jesus for that matter

Verse 15 - And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

[A] When it is a time to be rejoicing, one does not mourn

[B] The time would come when the disciples would mourn and than they would fast as well

[C] At the present time, it was time for the disciples of John to mourn and fast, as John was in prison and no longer with them – whereas Jesus was with his disciples and they had nothing to mourn about

Jesus goes on to explain this thought with the Parables for tonight found in verse sixteen and seventeen

Verse 16 - No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

[A] No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, [1] If one were to take a piece of new material and place it in a piece of old the new would shrink and the old would tear [2] Jesus had come with a new teaching, [a] If he mixed the new teaching with the old, it would not work [b] He had come to save the lost, not the saved, and the lost were shunned by those who thought they were righteous but were not – therefore why should he make those who were finding him and learning truth, practice what the self righteous were practicing

[B] So, says he, my new doctrines do not match with the old rites of the Pharisees. [1] If his new things were to work, the doctrines of the Pharisees would cause them no to

[C] I want you to consider this. [1] We are saved by faith not by works [a] Salvation through Jesus comes through faith alone [b] Salvation through the Jews came by works only [2] Jesus is the only way to enter heaven [b] We are made righteous through the blood of Jesus [c] The Jew was made righteous by living by the letter of the law [3] The only forgiveness for sin is through the shedding of blood [a] Christ shed his blood as a one time sacrifice for the sins of all mankind [b] The Jew offered lambs, goats and bulls on the altar daily to be forgiven for their sins [4] We are to love everyone [a] Jesus taught that we are to love our neighbors, and our enemies [b] The Jew was taught to hate anyone who was not a Jew and anyone who did not believe as they did [5] As Jesus said, how can we mix any of this without it becoming a snare to us?

Verse 17 - Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

[A] The bottles that wine was kept in was not actually bottles, they were skins. [1] As skins grow old they get hard and brittle [2] New wine is nothing but fresh squeezed juice, non - alcoholic [3] Old wine is fermented – alcohol [4] New wine is placed in new skins, and as the wine ferments, the skins begin to stretch and get larger [5] If new wine is placed in old skins, when it starts to ferment, the skin will begin to stretch and it will burst [6] This is what Jesus was trying to show the people would happen if you mix his teaching with that of the Pharisees – it would not work, and the person would be worse off than they were before.